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App note: Environmental compensation on the AD7142: The effects of temperature and humidity on capacitance sensors

An old but useful application from Analog Devices about things that can affect touch/capacitance sensors. Link here (PDF)

Capacitance sensing has the potential to replace current user input mechanisms in consumer devices. Products as diverse as cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, and other portable media players are all suitable for implementing capacitance sensing.

Capacitance sensing has many benefits. It gives the user an interface with greater sensitivity and control. Capacitance sensors are easy to manufacture and reliable, and have advantages over current mechanical interfaces. However, all types of capacitance sensors are affected by capacitance changes in the surrounding environment. Changes in humidity or temperature can interfere with the operation of the sensors, in some cases stopping the sensor from working altogether.